Arista Records/Monument Records, the official music partner of FOX Entertainment’s highly anticipated new series, MONARCH – a new country music drama about America’s first family of country music – has released the series’ first song, “A Country Boy Can Survive,” available everywhere now. The song is performed by multi-Platinum singer and series star Trace Adkins. MONARCH premieres Sunday, January 30 immediately following the NFC Championship on FOX. The series continues with its time period premiere on Tuesday, February 1 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT).
Country music icon Adkins delivers a special cover of “A Country Boy Can Survive,” originally released nearly 40 years ago by Hank Williams Jr. Listen to the song HERE.
Produced by three-time GRAMMY Award nominee and series executive music producer Adam Anders and co-producer Peer Åström, “A Country Boy Can Survive” is a song that Adkins has sung his entire career. It also speaks to his series character, Albie Roman, the patriarch of country music’s first family.
“Trace’s voice is one in a million and sets the tone for everything else we do musically on the series,” says Anders. “He grounds the show so much, and I love every time an ‘Albie’ song is on the slate.”
“I’ve lost count how many times I’ve listened to Hank Jr.’s ‘A Country Boy Can Survive,’” says Adkins. “Having the opportunity to record such an iconic song has been both exhilarating and daunting. I wanted to honor the original version while putting my own ‘spin’ on it. I’m excited for this to be the first release from MONARCH and for fans to hear all of the music we have coming out.”
MONARCH is a Texas-sized, multi-generational musical drama about America’s first family of country music. Headed by the insanely talented, but tough as nails Queen of Country Music DOTTIE CANTRELL ROMAN (Academy Award winner Susan Sarandon, “Feud,” “Thelma & Louise”) and her beloved husband, “Texas Truthteller” ALBIE ROMAN (multi-Platinum country music star and three-time Academy of Country Music (ACM) Award winner Trace Adkins, “Old Henry”), the family has become a country music dynasty. But even though the Roman name is synonymous with authenticity, the very foundation of their success is a lie. And when their reign as country royalty is put in jeopardy, heir to the crown NICOLETTE “NICKY” ROMAN (Golden Globe nominee Anna Friel, “Pushing Daisies”) will stop at nothing to protect her family's legacy, while ensuring her own quest for stardom.
MONARCH is 100% owned and produced by FOX Entertainment. Screenwriter Melissa London Hilfers serves as creator, writer and executive producer. Jon Harmon Feldman serves as executive producer and showrunner. Gail Berman and Hend Baghdady (The Jackal Group), Michael Rauch and top music manager Jason Owen (Sandbox Entertainment) also serve as executive producers. Jason Ensler directed the series premiere, on which he also serves as an executive producer. This will be the first release of many originals and covers performed for the series by cast members and upcoming guest stars.
About Trace Adkins
In his 25-year career in country music, Trace Adkins has sold more than 11 million albums, charted more than 20 singles, earned numerous awards and Grammy nominations, and garnered over two billion streams. A Grand Ole Opry member for nearly two decades, the Louisiana native is known for his dynamic baritone and fiery, always-memorable live performances, and has expanded his country career to include film and TV acting. He broke out in 1996 with the debut album Dreamin’ Out Loud, cracking the Top 5 of Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart with “Every Light In the House Is On,” and following with the #1 smash “This Ain’t (No Thinkin’ Thing).” Since then, Adkins has pioneered a mix of classic country-minded traditionalism and adventurous, good-natured showmanship, breaking open new avenues in modern country through fun-filled hits, such as “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk” and “Hillbilly Bone” (with Blake Shelton). He’ll celebrate the silver anniversary of his album debut in 2021 with The Way I Wanna Go, doing exactly what he always has – mixing pure-country reverence with standout collaborations, featuring Blake Shelton, Melissa Etheridge, Snoop Dogg, Stevie Wonder on harmonica and more. Featuring Adkins’ newest single, “Where The Country Girls At (feat. Luke Bryan & Pitbull)," the brand-new album The Way I Wanna Go, is available everywhere now.
About FOX Entertainment / FOX Entertainment Music
FOX Entertainment’s 30-year legacy of innovative, hit programming includes 9-1-1, 9-1-1: LONE STAR, THE MASKED SINGER, LEGO MASTERS, THE SIMPSONS, “Empire,” “24,” “The X-Files” and “American Idol.” Delivering high-quality scripted, non-scripted, animation, live content and major sports, FOX won the 2020-2021 broadcast season, marking the second consecutive season it ranked #1. In addition to its broadcast network, FOX Entertainment oversees the operations of FOX Alternative Entertainment, its in-house unscripted studio that produces THE MASKED SINGER, I CAN SEE YOUR VOICE and NAME THAT TUNE, among other series; the award-winning animation studio Bento Box Entertainment, which produces animated content for FOX, including the Emmy Award-winning hit BOB’S BURGERS and new series DUNCANVILLE, THE GREAT NORTH and HOUSEBROKEN, as well as programming for other broadcast, streaming and cable platforms; and Blockchain Creative Labs, a new business and creative unit formed in 2021 by FOX Entertainment and Bento Box, to build, launch, manage and sell Non-Fungible Token (NFT) content and experiences, and fungible tokens, as well as digital goods and assets. FOX Entertainment also recently formed the production venture Studio Ramsay Global, in partnership with award-winning chef, restaurateur and presenter Gordon Ramsay, to develop, produce and distribute culinary and lifestyle programming for FOX, its fast-growing ad-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) service, Tubi and platforms worldwide. Tubi features more than 35,000 movies and television series, and news content that’s available in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Australia. Most recently, FOX Entertainment acquired the entertainment platform TMZ and all its media properties, including its hit syndicated magazine programs, TMZ and TMZ LIVE, and its flagship digital platform, TMZ.com.
Launched in 2019, FOX Entertainment’s music division, FOX Entertainment Music (FEM) has produced a broad-spanning music catalog, including more than 200 original songs intended for sync licensing, 15 theme songs for Fox-owned productions and three new branding mnemonics for FOX Entertainment, FOX Alternative Entertainment and Bento Box. In complementing FOX Entertainment’s growing library of owned content, music created by FEM will further expand business revenue and opportunities for the organization across its owned platforms and licensing out to third parties. FEM will continue to play an integral role in driving equality and inclusion throughout FOX Entertainment by recruiting a range of diverse voices within the creative community to write, produce and perform music for the division.
About Monument Records
Formed under the leadership of Jason Owen and Shane McAnally, Monument Records is a joint venture with Sony Music Entertainment. The label’s roster includes Caitlyn Smith, Walker Hayes, Brandon Ratcliff, Teddy Robb, Alex Hall and Tigirlily.
Since Monument’s launch, the artist roster has accumulated over a billion streams, released multi-Platinum singles – including Walker Hayes’ number one, smash hit “Fancy Like” – made major TV appearances on the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, the TODAY Show, Late Night with Seth Meyers, and Good Morning America, and been written about in the pages of Billboard, Rolling Stone, Time Magazine and the New York Times. The label has created major partnerships for their artists with Applebee’s, Boot Barn, OtterBox, The VFW, and Free People, among many other highlights.
